Picture Tube din ...
joking aside, this should actually be most of the point of comparison, and i've been meaning to say this ... most of the buyers of flat panel tv's nowadays are on the first dip to these technologies, and are replacing their old crt tv's (or picture tube-based tv's) ... a year or two back, prices of flat panel are way out of reach - it is only now that the price are on the same level when the first 29-inch flat panel crt's were introduced ten years back ... i remember buying my 29-inch JVC Flat Interiart tv at around PhP 44k (BPI sale at 0% interest)
before you buy, yes you compare which technology best suits your needs (LCD or Plasma) ... after you buy, the point of comparison at home is usually your old crt tv and the new tv that you bought ... pag no improvement, talo ...hehe
my initial spending on the flat panels was a 22-inch samsung lcd ... comparing it to my crt tv ... there was not much of an improvement, specially with tv viewing, medyo talo pa nga lcd dahil limited viewing angle (pero satisfied pa rin naman ako with the improvement on other areas, specially gaming and viewing photos) ... when i bought my panasonic 42pv8 however, there was really great improvement - cable tv, dvd, and HD viewing ... hence i'm now a fan of plasma technology ... with regards to my lcd, useful pa rin for gaming - i don't think it is recommended to use one tv for both gaming and general use, mas madali mag-wear out kahit ano pa technology gamitin.
this is just my take